Worcester Porcelain Openwork Pine Cone Pattern Fruit Baskets - Set of 2

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Description

Georgian Table Elegance: Pair of First Period Worcester "Pine Cone" Baskets
Circa 1770–1775

This impressive and large pair of First … Read more Georgian Table Elegance: Pair of First Period Worcester "Pine Cone" Baskets
Circa 1770–1775

This impressive and large pair of First Period Worcester porcelain openwork fruit baskets dates to the Dr. Wall period, circa 1770–1775.

The baskets show the factory’s command of both molded form and transfer-printed decoration. Each circular basket is elaborately reticulated: the sides are pierced with a complex design of overlapping rings, and the upper border is cut with large oval and urn-shaped apertures, creating a delicate, lacy effect. Small florets applied at each intersection of the exterior openwork are painted in underglaze blue. The lobed rim follows the outline of the rings and is edged with a dense blue cell (trellis) band (recorded by the Gardiner Museum as "delft style 76"), punctuated at each junction with a painted scroll-and-floret motif, and a fine blue line frames the plain white well.

The central well of each basket is printed in crisp underglaze blue with the Pine Cone pattern (Branyan, French and Sandon pattern II.C.11), in which a large open flower and the pair of pine cones that give the pattern its name are grouped among broad leaves, with scattered sprays of smaller flowers. European rather than Chinese in derivation, it was one of the most widely used of Worcester’s printed patterns in the 1770s.

Set out as a pair on a dining table or sideboard, the baskets can still hold fruit or bread as intended; on plate stands in a cabinet or on open shelves, they sit well with English or Chinese export blue and white and with other Georgian porcelain.

Dimensions
Diameter: 10 1/2 inches (26.7 cm)
Height: 2 3/4 inches (7 cm)

Marks
One basket bears a shaded (hatched) crescent mark in underglaze blue, the factory mark used on Worcester’s First Period printed wares.

Provenance
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Condition
Excellent antique condition.

References
Gardiner Museum, Toronto, object no. G99.3.39, a slightly smaller example of the same form, catalogued as a "Large round twig fruit basket." The museum also holds an oval twig fruit basket printed with the Pine Cone pattern, Worcester, circa 1775, object no. G99.3.40.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Margaretten collection, pierced baskets printed with the Pine Cone pattern, 2021.81.110a–b.
L. Branyan, N. French and J. Sandon, Worcester Blue and White Porcelain 1751–1790 (London, 1981), pattern II.C.11.

Historical Context
Pierced fruit baskets were essential components of the formal Georgian dessert table. The openwork was functional as well as decorative, letting air circulate around the fruit or allowing washed fruit to drain, and the Gardiner Museum’s record relates this round form to Meissen or Chelsea prototypes.

The early 1770s were a period of high refinement at Worcester. Piercing on this scale is demanding in soft-paste porcelain, which is prone to slump and distort in the kiln, and pairing such reticulation with underglaze blue transfer printing, practiced commercially at Worcester since the late 1750s, confirmed the factory’s reputation for elegant and durable table wares.

(Ref: NY9024-nnim) See less